Media concerned lockdowns may not return

The Washington Post last week expressed concern that state governments may lack the power to order more lockdowns and isolations during the next pandemic. 

As studies have conclusively shown, not only did lockdowns have “little to no public health effects, they have imposed enormous economic and social costs where they have been adopted.” The mental and emotional fallout from lockdowns — particularly on children — is still unfolding.

Nevertheless, the Washington Post worried that the same won’t happen again.

“When the next pandemic sweeps the United States, health officials in Ohio won’t be able to shutter businesses or schools, even if they become epicenters of outbreaks,” wrote Lauren Weber and Joel Achenbach for WaPo Wednesday. “Nor will they be empowered to force Ohioans who have been exposed to go into quarantine.”

A large-scale, high-quality study published last month found masks to be mostly ineffective, removing any scientific basis for mask mandates. But the Washington Post worries they will no longer be forced on citizenries.

“State officials in North Dakota are barred from directing people to wear masks to slow the spread. Not even the president can force federal agencies to issue vaccination or testing mandates to thwart its march.”

In November the news outlet admitted that most COVID-19 deaths are among the vaccinated, which it said only shows that vaccines are necessary.

WaPo went on to blame “conservative and libertarian forces” for having “defanged much of the nation’s public health system through legislation and litigation as the world staggers into the fourth year of covid.”

“Health officials and governors in more than half the country are now restricted from issuing mask mandates, ordering school closures and imposing other protective measures or must seek permission from their state legislatures before renewing emergency orders,” the news site continued.

“The next time a pandemic hits, many public health officials will be forced to go to state legislatures and to Congress to ask for explicit authorization to act — a delay that could cost lives,” WaPo complained, going on to slam conservatives for doubting the efficacy of public health orders — doubts which have been vindicated.

“Many conservatives said they did not believe the public health orders were effective in saving lives, despite evidence to the contrary,” the mainstream news site continued, citing a low-quality disputed study on masks by the Missouri Health Department from 2021.